A computing device's operating system commonly uses a notification component to display notifications generated by applications. For instance, consider the case in which an Email application running on the computing device receives an Email message. The notification component typically displays some type of auto-expiring notification (such as a popup message) which indicates that the Email message has been received. A user may ignore the notification. Alternatively, the user may click on (or otherwise interact with) the notification. In response to the user's action, the computing device will typically activate the Email application and/or perform some other environment-specific operation.
While an end user may find notifications useful, there is also a risk that a heavy volume of such notifications can overwhelm the user and lead to poor user experience. The user may address this issue by ignoring the notifications or/and by disabling the notification component in whole or in part. This solution, however, defeats the original purpose of the notification component, which is to keep the user apprised of relevant occurrences affecting the user's applications in a timely manner.